“Kourtney and I are obviously fine right now but we shut down production for a week after that,” said the 39-year-old.

“I think everyone was really shook for a minute and just was like, this isn’t our type of show, we want everyone to be comfortable and safe but that happened.”

The sudden shutdown of production means that the immediate aftermath of the physical altercation between Kim and Kourtney was not filmed and will not be aired as part of the series, which is a break from tradition for the family whose motto is ‘cameras always rolling’.

For reference, the first time (and only other time) production has been halted on the series was in 2015 when Khloe Kardashian’s ex-husband, Lamar Odom was hospitalised for a drug overdose.

On-screen text during one of the following episodes addressed Lamar’s hospitalisation and stated that “out of love and respect for Lamar and the family, filming of Keeping Up With the Kardashians was stopped for a brief period”.

“I don’t really ever resort to violence like that but she scratched me so hard, which you guys didn’t see,” Kim continued. “I was bleeding and so you didn’t really get to see that detail but when I looked down at my arm and saw that she had really scratched me and I felt it all on my back, I just went over and slapped her back.”

In the same interview, Kim also addressed the ongoing tension between her and Kourtney.

“It was pretty intense. I feel like it’s been a lot of built-up resentment from Kourtney, or just feeling like she doesn’t want to film anymore,” she said.

“She’s not the type of person to make a decision and say ‘okay guys I’m not going to film’ but she would come to work with an attitude every day and take it out on everyone from the crew to us and wouldn’t really make that decision.

“So we would keep on pushing her to figure out why she was so unhappy.

“When my mum saw a clip of that she cried and was like, ‘who are you guys? What is going on?'”

For a debrief on the Kardashian drama, along with the biggest entertainment stories of the day, listen to The Spill.

Their fight also contributed to Kourtney’s decision to “take time off” from the show. This was something she clarified in November 2019, when the 40-year-old confirmed her departure.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I just decided to spend more time as a mum and put more of my energy there,” she told Entertainment Tonight.

“But I’m not saying goodbye… I think you’ll have to see more of it on the new season, season 18. It isn’t airing yet, but it’s being filmed. Currently, in this room.”